Louis, Prince of Hesse and by Rhine

Louis, Prince of Hesse and by Rhine (Ludwig Hermann Alexander Chlodwig, 20 November 1908 – 30 May 1968) was the youngest son of Ernest Louis, Grand Duke of Hesse by his second wife, Princess Eleonore of Solms-Hohensolms-Lich.

Louis
Prince of Hesse and by Rhine
Born(1908-11-20)20 November 1908
Darmstadt, German Empire
Died20 May 1968(1968-05-20) (aged 59)
Frankfurt, West Germany
Burial6 June 1968
Rosenhohe, Darmstadt, Hesse, Germany
SpouseMargaret Campbell Geddes
Full name
Ludwig Hermann Alexander Chlodwig
HouseHesse-Darmstadt
FatherErnest Louis, Grand Duke of Hesse
MotherPrincess Eleonore of Solms-Hohensolms-Lich

He succeeded his brother Georg Donatus as the titular Grand Duke of Hesse after his death. He married Margaret Campbell Geddes daughter of Auckland Campbell Geddes, 1st Baron Geddes in 1937, on the day after the Sabena OO-AUB Ostend crash, in which his mother, brother, sister-in-law, and nephews were all killed. They had no issue, although, after the death of his older brother, he adopted his niece, Johanna (b. 1936) but the little girl died in 1939.

In 1964 he stood as godfather to Prince Edward. In 1960 Prince Louis adopted his distant cousin Moritz, Landgrave of Hesse. With the death of Prince Louis in Frankfurt 1968 he was succeeded by Moritz's father Philipp, Landgrave of Hesse (d. 1980) as head of the house. Moritz (d. 2013) in turn was succeeded by his son Donatus (b. 1966).

He introduced the British composer Benjamin Britten (1913–76) to the poetry of Friedrich Hölderlin (1770–1843). Britten dedicated his 1958 song cycle Sechs Hölderlin-Fragmente to the Prince.[1]

Ancestry
Louis, Prince of Hesse and by Rhine
Born: 20 November 1908 Died: 30 May 1968
Titles in pretence
Preceded by
Georg Donatus		 — TITULAR —
Grand Duke of Hesse and by Rhine
1937–1968
Reason for succession failure:
Grand Duchy abolished in 1918		 Succeeded by
Philipp

References
  1. Carpenter, Humphrey (1992). Benjamin Britten: A Biography. London: Faber and Faber. p. 388. ISBN 0-571-14324-5.
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